Monday, December 19, 2011

I couldn't be more excited to bring you guys this giveaway! Really. I mean, I'd be excited if just one of you got to win this, but no, 100 of you will win this giveaway. Yeah, that's right-- 100 readers are going to $40 gift cards to InPink where you can choose through hundreds of wonderful earrings and necklaces and rings, oh my! Since this is such a big giveaway, you have ONE MONTH to enter, but you'll also have multiple ways of getting entries. Here's how: for every one of the following you do, leave a separate comment below to get an additional entry (be sure to leave your email address as well).

Friday, November 25, 2011

I went to Anthropologie a few days ago and saw these really cute Christmas trees in jars. I really wanted some, but they were going anywhere from $18 to $38! I thought they looked like they would be really easy to make so I decided to give it a shot.

I went to Michael's and picked up a jar of white glitter, a mason jar and a pack of decorative Christmas trees and ended up finding some salt shakers at the Goodwill for 99 cents! I forgot to pick up some silver glitter but had some loose silver eyeshadow I used instead. I put hot glue all around the outside of the trees and rolled them around in the silver glitter. Then, I hot glued the bottom of the trees and with some tweezers, glued them to the bottoms of the jars. I poured some white glitter into the jars as well and voila! I had some homemade Anthropologie Christmas tree jars.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Yes, I went as Benjamin Franklin. Yes, people thought I was Thomas Edison and/or Albert Einstein. What? I don't even. Again, one of the cheapest costumes I've done-- All I had to buy was the wig. And I won first place in the costume contest at work. Second year in a row! You can see my past Halloween costumes here and here. Did you guys dress up this year?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I find myself at work daydreaming about buying a little camper and just leaving. Traveling around, being in a different place every day. Waking up early, taking walks, reading good books and writing good stories. Having campfires and making friends. The reason I don't travel that often is because I don't like being away from home, but then I read in A Heart Is a Lonely Hunter this quote: "I do not have any home, so why should I be homesick?", but what if instead of me not having a home, I was always home? No matter where I was, at the end of the day, I always went back home. Isn't that a wonderful thought? So now I can't stop listening to Going to California and dreaming of wonderful adventures with a clear head, a fruitful spirit and a happy heart.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

"How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?"

I checked out The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers from the library back in June. I finished in September. This can tell you two things: one, it took me a really freaking long time to get through it and two, it cost me a lot of money in overdue fees. Sometimes, when I start reading a really heavy, serious book, it takes me a long time to get through it. This book in particular was depressing and monotone. One thing that I can tell you is, Carson McCullers amazed me. The book was published in 1933, and it takes place in a modern day (1930s) Georgia town. It follows five characters throughout the book that live in this town. Each character is connected to the others somehow, and each character deals with his or her own problems, dilemmas, and realizations. The thing that amazes me is that McCullers was 23 when she wrote this book. Let me say that again, McCullers, a woman in the 1930's had this book published when she was only 23. And this book is heavy. It talks about racism, religion, politics... every thing you would not expect to come from a 23-year-old girl.
The thing that astonished me the most was how ahead of her time McCullers was. In this book she talks about fascism and Hitler's treatment of the Jews (again, this was published in 1933. Perspective: World War II didn't start until 1939.) She also talks about racial inequality in the south. One of her characters is an African-American doctor who cannot stand the oppression of blacks in the south anymore. He encourages his fellow men to speak up, to educate themselves and to be heard. He even talks about organizing a march to Washington D.C. (Something Martin Luther King, Jr. would do 30 years later in 1963.) It blew my mind what she was writing about and discussing in this book. It's a lot to digest. It definitely isn't a Nicholas Sparks beach read. And it might take you 3 months to read, like me. But I think it's worth it.

"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist."

-Fey's reply to Jerry Lewis' comment about women not being funny.

I learned two things while reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: one, for the love of God, read something lighthearted and fun! and two, for the love of God, don't check anything else out from the library! So I decided to read Bossypants by Tina Fey. I've wanted to read this ever since it came out, but like I always say, I can't justify buying a new book when I have stacks of unread books at home. So I decided I didn't have to buy it-- I'd just borrow it. Luckily, my friend's mom had a copy that she so graciously let me borrow. Yay.
I should admit here that I don't watch 30 Rock. I watched some of one episode and I didn't think it was funny. Granted, I didn't really give it a fair shot, but I just don't think Tracy Morgan is funny at all. I do, though, think Tina Fey is funny. I loved her on SNL and Weekend Update. I also love just really genuinely funny women. There aren't a lot, so Fey is a rare gem. She pretty much makes me want to be a comedy writer. I know what you're thinking, "Emily, you're not even funny." I know, but those are just details that I will pick up along the way.
In the book she talks about her life growing up (and briefly mentions how she got her famous scar, and why she doesn't like talking about it.) She also talks about her starting out in improv and her interview with Lorne Michaels for Saturday Night Live. She dishes on what it's like to be an SNL writer, as well as creating 30 Rock and being a mom. The whole book is full of funny anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tid-bits about show business. It was a fun, interesting and even inspiring book to read. And it only took me a week to read it. Two thumbs up!

Friday, September 30, 2011

I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not a mirage. This is in fact a (kind of) outfit post. I wore this to take a midterm. I know this isn't really a traditional lets-go-write-two-essays kind of outfit, but I went with it anyway. I was actually really nervous to take this exam. I'd spent the majority of two days typing up notes (that may or may not have suppose to be done over the course of a couple weeks.) but even doing terms and review questions I didn't feel very prepared. It was probably because it wasn't just a here's-50-multiple-choice-questions-make-an-educated-guess midterm. It was like a go-buy-a-blue-book-from-the-bookstore-cause-you're-going-to-spend-an-hour-writing-and-hating-your-life-and-probably-thinking-about-other-things.

So why wouldn't I wear a mini skirt and cowboy boots? Look good, feel good, right? And if nothing else, I wanted to at least look cute during my panic attack. I mean, what if it got so bad paramedics had to be called in? C'mon, I can't be around paramedics not lookin' my best.

So I got to class, and I sat down and I read the questions and immediately was like...

My mind went blank. Every lecture I had sat in, every note I had taken, every review question I had answered... went right out of my little ombre'd head. I sat there for a minute, and slowly pieces started to form in my brain like Mike TV on WonkaVision. Then it happened, I started to word vomit out of my pen, and within 45 minutes I had two essays under my belt. I only had to wipe my clamy hands on my skirt about 57 times. But as soon as I turned in my test I couldn't get out of class fast enough. You know when you have a weight lifted off of you and suddenly you have this sense of relief that makes you feel like you could do anything? That's what I felt like walking out. Walking to my car, a couple of pre-teen boys skating in the quad asked me how my day was. I said, "Great! How's yours?" because I work in retail and I know how to answer that question. Then I continued to walk to my car feeling like a million bucks, thinking to myself, "I probably should have asked where those kids' parents were..."

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

On Sunday, my sister and I attended Blog Sugar, a faith-based blogging conference. My sister had talked me into going months ago, even though I was a little hesitant. I'm really glad I went though. I got to hear really amazing speakers like Laura, Heather, and Julie and Jeannette. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things. This conference wasn't about how to increase your readership, or gain sponsors or monetize your blog. It was about how to give your blog it's full potential, and using it for good. One thing I kept hearing a lot during the course of the conference was "your story." How to write "your story" and how to share "your story." My sister and I were talking on the way home and I told her, "You know, I kept hearing people talking about writing 'your story' on your blog, but I feel like I've already done that. I've already written about my anxiety and I've written about my skin cancer. I don't know what else I'd have to share." and then my sister said, "but that's still your story. You're still living with that." and it made me think-- because she's right.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Saturday was the live style off round for the Project Style contest I was in. It was held at my local mall and hosted by Nick Verreos. How our mall managed that, I will never know. It was such a fun event. They first brought the 3 other contestants and me on stage and chatted a little about our style and whatnot.

I had no idea what to say. I hate having to describe what my style is, since I'm not even really sure myself. I should have said "bi-polar" because it's always changing and I love so many different types of styles that I can't settle on just one.

After that, they let us loose in the mall with $200 gift cards to pick out a complete outfit within an hour. Talk about stress. I had gone to the mall a couple days before hand to try to scout out my plan of attack like a war general, but I ended up leaving even more unsure with what kind of look I wanted to go for. It's sort of like when someone asks you, "What's your favorite movie?" and your mind goes completely blank and you can't think of any movie you watched in the past ever. That was how this was for me. It was like my mind turned into an lolcat saying, "clothez, wut iz they?" and completely forgot how to dress myself. I told myself, "do not go into Forever 21. Do NOT go into Forever 21." as I headed straight into Forever 21.

It's not that I don't like Forever 21, because I do. I have plenty of clothes from there, but I felt like it was just the obvious choice. But I panicked and just started grabbing stuff. For some reason I really wanted to wear a chunky scarf because I thought it was totally fall-ish, and I wanted to wear ankle boots. Then I blacked out and woke up on stage wearing this outfit.

Just kidding, I didn't black out, but this is what I ended up picking out. As I got back to the stage and saw the look of sheer disappointment on my family's faces when they saw what I picked out, I knew I dun goofed. Don't get me wrong, I love this outfit. It's me and it's completely what I would wear, but in hindsight, it's probably not an outfit that's going to win a "trendsetting" contest, yaknowwhaddimean? Let's watch as I try to explain my ensemble:

Yeah. If you want to win a contest solely on an outfit, you probably shouldn't describe it as "basic" or "casual" or "not too over-the-top" which I said three times. I described my outfit as plain and boring three. different. times. Here, watch it again at a different angle:

I could have just spent my gift card on a wet blanket and it would have matched the description I gave my outfit. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 and you can spend hours thinking of things you should have said or should have picked out instead (which I have. for hours.) But this is still an outfit I'd wear, so I ain't even trippin'. I think if anything, this made me realize how simple my style actually is.

Let me stop here to tell you how much this contest made me feel like a secret agent. First, I was on a mission, and that mission was timed. It was me against the clock. and second, we had to come back wearing our new outfit. They let us loose and let us fend for ourselves to find somewhere to change. So where did I change? I changed in a Macy's dressing room. I didn't even buy anything from Macy's, how did I even end up there? and it was the dressing room on the second floor. I went to the most out of the way place to change. I went full retard. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, I started thinking how suspicious it would look if I just walked into a fitting room with bags of clothes. So naturally I picked something off a random rack and slyly slipped into the dressing room. It wasn't even a dressing room with an attendant that passes out numbers or unlocks a room for you. It was a self-service dressing room that I brought a pair of pants into, that probably weren't even my size, that I had no intentions of trying on.

So I start to walk into the handicap room because it's the biggest, but then I thought that would be bad karma in case someone who really was handicapped came in and couldn't use it because I was Clark Kenting it up in there. So I start going through my bags, which are the loudest bags ever, by the way. They might as well have bagged my stuff in a biodegradable Sun Chips bag so I could have drawn even more attention to the fact I was suspiciously rummaging through bags in a dressing room. So I start ripping off tags and realized my boots were joined together by an elastic band. And I had no sharp objects. You know how they say with enough adrenaline you could lift a car? Well, apparently with enough adrenaline you can rip apart an elastic band with your own bare hands.

So I get changed and I walk out (making sure to ditch the pants on the "they didn't work out" rack) and it's kind of the most badass feeling walking out in a completely different outfit than what you went in wearing. I felt like I was 007 in a pullover sweater. Then I made my way back to the contest, where I lost. Hard. Like, bottom 2 hard.

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But honestly, I wasn't even bummed. It was a lot of fun, and I was so excited to have just made it that far. I mean, c'mon I got to walk a runway and hang out with Nick Verreos? I think I'm the one that made out in this deal. So thank you all who voted for me in the semi-finals to get me that far. This opportunity was everything. And just as a thank you, I will treat you with Nick Verreos' uh-mazing runway walk.